HURLEY DOCUMENTS ARCHIVE

This page serves as a depository for all sorts of Hurley documents. You'll
find details on design and construction, colourful brochures that, alas,
have turned black and white under the photocopier, even some deep words
of wisdom and an overview of Hurley production history. Most of these documents
are jpeg images of scanned-in documents. They can be quite big so be sure
to look at the file size before you open such links.

Many documents are pictures - scans of old documents. Some of them are
larger than screen size, and can best be seen saved on disk via a graphics
package. Nevertheless, all of them are legible from the web as well.

Hurley 22 Design & Construction

The first plans for the 22 were drawn up in 1963, when Hurley Marine wanted
to build a sturdy, seaworthy addition to their range of boats. Next to
seaworthyness, performance was the core concern. That left little room
for the third design element, a spacious interior. By drawing a narrow
boat with a 60% ballast ratio, designer Ian Anderson made the Hurley 22
into what is no doubt the most seaworthy yacht in its size. Performance
was pretty good for the time - a 22 actually won the Round the Island race
in 1967, but that makes performance simply OK these days. Design element
number four is looks. Ah, the looks! No boxy floating caravan, this one.

Before we enter into long stories, here's a drawing
with the boat's and sails' exact measurements. This is a hand-drawn
chart with very fine print, so it's a big (1.2 MB) jpeg file. If you have
a graphics package on your PC, it is easy to zoom in and out on all the
details. Save this file (like any other) by clickinging the right-hand
mouse button, and selecting 'save as'. Not all Hurleys are identical when
it comes to the sail plan - check your mast before ordering new sails....

John Simpson, back in 1994, wrote a long
story in PBO about the Hurley 22 he used to cross the Atlantic (3 times,
actually), and the changes he made to his 22 in preparation.

Professional Opinions on the Hurley 22

Many things have been written on the Hurley 22 over the years, pretty much
all of them positive. The boat has a very outspoken character though, and
for those of you considering to buy one, this should be recommended reading!
If you are the proud owner of a 22 - enjoy!

Hurley 22 Brochures and Spec Sheets

In the 35 or so years that the Hurley has been around, the various builders
and import agents have left a lot of marketing materials. Below, you'll
find a selection, but keep in mind that most of these are scans of photocopies
and not exactly crisp!

1988: This is the real thing: the specs of your
newly-built Hurley 22 'club' which, as far as I know, is still made
by Mike Langford. Consider this a shameless commercial plug. Note that
the Hurley now has a separate heads compartment...

1978: Profound words from Dame Naomi James on
the occasion of the 1000th Hurley 22. I lost the original copy, which is
a pity as Dame Naomi's Deep Seventies fashion statement is at least as
interesting as her comments! Oh well, here's the text at least.

1981: Ravensail's brochure on the Hurley 22R. For those of us who have
never seen a 22R in the flesh, it will always remain a mystery how on earth
Ravensail could cram in a separate heads to starport! (english, pages
1-2/326k, pages 3-4/189k jpeg).

Older Dutch Brochures:

1970: Surely one of the first ads of the Hurley 22 and other Hurley family
members in Holland, showing a picture of a Lloyd's
test to underpin the boat's ruggedness (Dutch, 500k jpeg).

1975: Nice four-page booklet from Holland Marine, who later on started
to build their own version, the Hurley 700 (Dutch, pages
1-2/700k, pages 3-4/550k jpeg)

Hurley 18

The three-berth Hurley 18 was designed by Ian Anderson with offshore performance
in mind and, possibly, to be sailed by the ex-dinghy sailor who has graduated
to a boat in which he can sail much farther afield without losing the lively
'feel' of a class dinghy. This modern design in glass fibre won a place
in the 'Top Ten' at the Weymouth (England) 'One-of-a-Kind' Rally in 1966
and is built to Lloyd's specification with, of course, a Lloyd's Series
Production Certificate and registered number. The deep keel and good ballast/weight
ratio ensure that the '18' is a stiff and comfortable boat at sea, whilst
her ability to work to windward is excellent.

Hurley 20

Being a bit larger than the 18 made a lot of difference in the H20's interior.
Below decks, there is room for four (if you can adapt to early-'60s norms,
that is) and many even found the room for a toilet under the fore-hatch.
The 20 impressed many by its performance, and excellent qualities in heavy
seas. Here, you can find a second-hand review.
Other documents available:

Hurley 30/90

For now, all we have on the largest boat in the Hurley range is a brochure
(page 1/52k, page 2/54k)
from early 1974. It does hold the full price list, which neatly shows what
26 years of inflation means....

Silhouette

One of the most popular small cruisers of all time, Bob Tucker's diminutive
mini cruiser arrived in 1959 and by 1967 had tempted over two thousand
customers. Early (Mk I) boats were plywood (hence the chines); most Mk
IIs were GRP while the Mk III was moulded by Hurley Marine to a radically
revamped design. The central ballast stub was removed, draft increased
by 5in and the ballast ratio improved from 26 to 37%. She also carried
43% more sail. A fin keel version was available but the vast majority had
twin keels. Her two berth accommodation was still cramped (the Mk 4, built
by Varne Marine, added two bunks) but her low cost, good looks and predictable
handling have won her many friends. All we have on the boat at the moment
it this picture. However, the Silhouette
has her own Owners' Association, details of which are here.

Felicity

We only have a copy of a copy of the original sales brochure, which means
that image quality leaves something to be desired. Nevertheless: